Truth, Lies and Secret Family
by Pokelad
Summary: Rouge strikes a deal with Sonic and hands over a disk full of government data, but the reasons of what the data is needed for is unexpected...and this blue hedgehog is determined to be reunited with his own....a young black and red hedgehog.
1. The deal

Story takes place 2 months after SA1.

* * *

"Come on...come on...where the hell is she, Dammit?!"

The blue hedgehog was waiting at the top of a hill, tapping his foot.

"I told her to meet at this EXACT place, I told her what time to meet me at, and she's STILL late!"

"My, My. Isn't somebody grumpy today?" a female bat with white skin mocked as she landed on the ground in front of the blue hedgehog.

"It's about time!" Sonic replied, annoyed.

"Maybe it's a bit of PMT..." The bat teased.

"Rouge, I'm not in the mood for this right now..."

"Aww, don't be such a party pooper!"

Sonic glared at Rouge, who he had met only a month ago, when she had tried to steal the Master Emerald. After learning about her addiction to jewels and that she was a secret government agent (She had been looking at a diamond ring and gone into one of her little 'trances' when she had revealed the latter)

(Flashback)

"All right, I'm here. Now what do you want? I have manicure appointment in fifteen minutes, you know, so make it quick!"

Sonic grinned.

"Well, you know that you're a secret government agent, or should I say, Not-So-Secret government agent, right?"

"Yeah..."

"And that means that you have a lot to do with the, Guardian Units of Nations, commonly known as GUN, right?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, would you know anything about the Ultimate Lifeform, AKA: Project Shadow, would you?"

"The Ultimate Lifeform?" The Ivory bat asked, and Sonic nodded.

"I know that GUN has a lot information on The Ultimate Lifeform, and I need that information." He replied.

"And why would you want this...information?" Rouge asked.

"Oh, not much..." Sonic replied, grinning.

Rouge paused for a moment, thinking, before asking;

"Well, what's in it for me, then? I don't work for free."

Sonic grinned, reaching into his quills and pulling out a large diamond. Rouge's eyes widened. She suddenly became oblivious to the world around her, not letting her eyes stray from the large jewel. Sonic swore he could see her drooling.

Sonic grinned.

"So, would this be considered payment?" He asked, chuckling.

"Uh-huh." Rouge said absent-mindedly, still keeping her eyes on the diamond.

Sonic again and replaced the diamond in his quills.

"So, is it a deal?" he asked, extending his hand.

Rouge answered without hesitating. "Deal" she said, taking his hand.

The two shook hands on it.

"But remember, No Data, No Diamond, right?"

"Right."

Rouge winked in his direction, causing him to blush, before taking off into the sky.

Sonic watched her fly off. Then realised he was blushing.

"WHAT THE HELL?!"

(End of Flashback)

"So, have you got it?" Sonic asked, pulling out the diamond.

"Yep." Rouge answered, pulling out a Data Disk.

The two then proceeded to exchange their items. Sonic took the disk and a grin spread across his face, while Rouge was inspecting the diamond, using every method she could think of to check that it was real. Sonic put the disk in his quills for safekeeping.

"Thanks, Rouge." Sonic said.

"No problem, _Handsome._"

Rouge gave the fastest thing alive one of her seductive smirks, before flying off into the night sky.

Sonic stood there, frozen, for a few moments.

'Did she just call me...God Dammit, Sonic! What is up with you?! This is no time for fantasies!' he thought to himself, before running off into the night.

Above him, Rouge was having some thoughts.

'Wonder what Big Blue wanted with those files? Maybe I'll take a peep...'

Rouge turned around, and being a bat, she was easily able to make out Sonic streaking off into the distance through the darkness.

She smirked again, before taking after him.

(15 Minutes later)

Rouge was looking through a top-floor window of Sonic's home. She could see the Blue Blur on his computer, looking through the disk's files.

Rouge was able to silently make her way into the house by getting through a downstairs window.

'This is just TOO easy for a master jewel thief, you know.' She thought.

Clinging to the ceiling, she made her way upstairs and into Sonic's room, unnoticed.

She watched him for a while, then he eventually said two words;

"Prison Island."

A million thoughts came rushing through Rouge's head.

'Prison Island? Is that where this 'Ultimate Lifeform' thing is? And what could Sonic want with it, anyway?' She thought.

Then a picture came up on the screen. To the right of the picture was a younger Sonic, about 14. (Sonic's 19 in this story) To the left of the frame was a girl, about 16 years old, with long, golden hair and was wearing a blue and white dress. And in between them was a seven-year-old hedgehog boy, with black fur and red highlights. He also had a white tuft of fur on his chest and had magnificent crimson eyes.

"I've finally found you." Sonic said, zooming in on the hedgehog boy. "My Son."

As soon as he said these two words, Rouge's eyes widened and fell to the floor with a CRASH! Sonic turned towards her, with an ANGRY look on his face.


	2. Explanations

Here's Chapter 2! Hopefully, this will help everything else make MUCH more sense.

Disclaimer: i do not own Sonic and co. they are the property of SEGA.

* * *

Rouge quickly got up, very embarrassed. As soon as she looked up, she found Sonic glaring at her angrily.

"Rouge?" he asked, in a forced calm voice.

"Y-Yes?" Rouge stuttered, knowing that she was probably going to get it.

"WHAT are you doing here?"

Rouge quickly tried to think of a good excuse. Normally, she would try to use her female 'charms', but they never worked as well on Sonic as they did normally (if at all).

"Well, I was the one who actually gave you that data, and I was curious, so..."

Sonic cut her off.

"So you decide to break into my house and invade my privacy?"

He finished for her. That made Rouge feel guilty. She decided to change the subject.

"Sonic...I hope you don't mind by asking...but what did you mean when you said 'My Son'?

Most of the anger drained from Sonic's face. He sighed and turned away.

'Should I tell her?' he thought to himself. 'I mean, I've never told anyone before. But, she's a government agent. She just might be able to help me on this.' Finally making a decision, he began to speak;

"It's a long story." He paused for a moment. "A Sixty-Two year long story to be exact."

"Sixty-Two years?" Rouge asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sonic nodded, and then continued.

"Yes. You see, Sixty-Two years, when I was two years old-"

"Wait, that'd make you..."

"Sixty-Four years old. Sixty-Five years this July, to be exact."

Rouge looked aghast.

"But how..."

"Let me finish my story."

Sonic sighed as he began to tell a story that had never before passed his lips.

"Sixty-Two years ago, when I was two years old, I was homeless, with nowhere to go; I managed to sustain myself by rummaging through bins. One day, I was in the Mystic Ruins foraging for any edible berries I could find. I came across a group of overlanders who were studying the planet. Once they learned I was homeless they took me home and took care of me. One of those Overlanders was Professor Gerald Robotnik."

Rouge gasped. "Eggman's grandfather!"

Sonic nodded.

"Yes. As I said, they took me home. AKA: The ARK."

"The ARK? As in, Space Colony Ark?" Rouge asked, and Sonic nodded again.

"As I said, they took care of me there. I met the professor's granddaughter, Maria. She was like an older sister to me. We were very close. Then, when I was seven, Black Doom arrived."

"Black Doom?" Rouge asked.

"Black Doom was an alien, and from what I heard, he was the ruler of an alien kingdom. He was working with the professor on a new project, called 'The Ultimate Lifeform.' Black Doom wanted it to be a weapon of destruction, but Gerald secretly disagreed. He thought that it should be created for the good of both humanity and Mobians. Black Doom supplied his DNA for use in the project, but he immediately left, but he said he'd be back. However, they still needed the DNA of a mobian to use."

"Yours?" Rouge asked, and Sonic nodded again.

"Yes. Part of the reason was that not only had I already discovered my speed and learned to use it efficiently, but I had also learned Chaos Abilities."

"Err, Chaos abilities?"

"Yep, watch."

Rouge watched with interest as Sonic pulled out the Grey Chaos Emerald from a drawer and lifted it above his head.

"CHAOS CONTROL!"

There was a flash of green light and Sonic disappeared, only to reappear behind Rouge. Rouge's jaw dropped.

"I would show you more of my Chaos Abilities, but the roof may collapse on both of our heads. Anyway, as I was saying, after Gerald took my DNA sample, he combined it with Black Doom's DNA, and a few months later, my 'son' Shadow was 'born'. Gerald also decided NOT to speed-grow him, which is what had been planned originally. Over time, I successfully bonded with Shadow, and we became inseparable. We were father and son, and it was possible to see that in many ways, but he was mostly like the little brother I never had. He meant everything to me. Then, when he was 7 and I was 14, 'it' happened." Sonic paused for a moment. It was obvious that this was the first time he had ever revealed this and it was also obvious that to him, it was a great load off his back.

"Err, what's 'it'?" Rouge asked.

Sonic growled.

"G.U.N's what happened. They raided the ARK, their mission: capture the Ultimate Lifeform. I was separated by Shadow and Maria during the raid, and I was later captured. I spent the next 45 years cryogenically frozen. They believed me to be an early prototype of the 'Ultimate Lifeform'. I was released by accident, and I ran for it, but not before I searched the whole base for Shadow, but to no avail. I scoured the planet searching for him, I knew that they wouldn't have killed him; they would've stored him for research reasons, just as they did with me. As I did this, I first met Eggman. I chased after him, thinking that he might know something about Shadow, but I was wrong. He knew nothing. Over the next five years I met Tails, Amy, Knuckles and of course, you."

"Did you find any more information before you asked me?" Rouge asked.

"Yes." Sonic answered sadly.

He then went to a drawer and pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Rouge.

"It's a list of the people who died on the ARK during the raid. He explained.

Rouge scanned down the long list of names before one caught her eye. Maria Robotnik. But, Gerald was nowhere to be seen.

"Err, Sonic? I know this might upset you, but...what happened to Gerald?"

"Captured by GUN, from what I discovered on that disk you gave me. Went completely crazy and promised to kill us all."

Rouge could only think of one word to say; "Oh."

Sonic continued his story.

"Still, although I knew that Maria was dead, I never gave up hope on Shadow. And now I know where he is."

"Prison Island." Rouge answered for him.

Sonic was about to speak again when there was an angry outburst coming from the doorway. "YOU HAD A SON ALL THIS TIME AND NEVER TOLD ME?!" Sonic and Rouge turned to face the source of the noise and saw three figures: on the right was a Two-Tailed fox, clearly wishing he wasn't there at that moment in time. On the left was a red echidna, who was staring a hole right through Sonic, his mouth open, and in the middle was a very pissed-off looking pink hedgehog, who had a massive hammer in her hands.


	3. Matter of trust

Here's chapter three, everybody! Hope you like! R&R.

Disclaimer: i do not own Sonic and co. they are the property of SEGA.

* * *

Sonic stared at Amy for a full three seconds before either one of them made a move.

"WELL?!"

"Well what?"

"YO KNOW WHAT, YOU NEVER TOLD ME YOU HAD A SON! AND I'M SUPPOSED TO BE YOUR GIRLFREIND! AND BEFORE YOU TELL ME, YOU INSTEAD TELL THIS BI-"

"WHAT DID YOU JUST CALL ME?!" Rouge yelled.

"WELL, HE WAS SUPPOSED TO TELL ME BEFOREHAND, SEEING AS I'M HIS GIRLFREIND-"

"No, Amy."

Everybody stopped, staring at Sonic.

"But Sonic, as I'm your girlfriend..."

"No. You were never my girlfriend, and never will be. I hinted numerous times that I didn't like you that way and never will do."

Amy paused, falling to the ground, and then began to cry.

"Y-You mean t-that you never l-loved me?"

Sonic looked at her dead in the eye.

"As a friend and sister, yes. But that's all."

Amy cried for a few more moments, before getting up and lifting her hammer above her head, fury covering her face.

"YOU'LL PAY, YOU BLUE BA-"

But before she could finish, an orange beam of light came out of Sonic's raised hand, and hit the hammer, obliterating it. Amy stood there, frozen by shock, as another Chaos Spear began to charge up in Sonic's hand. He then pointed it at Amy.

"Now Amy, why don't you leave quietly, NOW, or do we have to do this the hard way?" He asked. Amy didn't need telling twice. She ran from the house as fast as her legs would carry her, while bawling her eyes out. Silence enveloped the room, before sonic decided to break it.

"Just how much of the story did you guys actually hear, anyway?" he asked.

"Everything from 'As I did this, I first met Eggman. I chased after him, thinking that he might know something about Shadow." Tails answered him, staring at the turquoise coloured carpet.

"Sooo...Big Blue's a father, didn't think you had it in ya!" Knuckles exclaimed, patting Sonic on the back, whose face turned slightly red.

"Knuckles..."

"Why don't you tell them the full story, before Knucklehead gets any more...'assumptions'?" Rouge suggested.

Sonic sighed, and began to repeat his story...

About 15 minutes later, Sonic had finished. Both Tails and Knuckles were staring at him, wide eyed.

"So you're 64 years old..."

"Yes, Knuckles..."

"When you were two, Eggman's grand-daddy took you to ARK..."

"Yes..."

"After 5 years, you had a son who was created by combining your DNA with that of an alien freak..."

"Yes..."

"Seven years later, GUN invaded the ARK and captured you..."

"YES!"

"You were in stasis for 45 years..."

"YES!"

"You chased Eggman, thinking he knew something about Shadow..."

"YES!"

"And you've just found out that Shadow's on Prison Island."

"He said YES, Knucklehead!" Rouge practically yelled. That echidna really pissed her off at times, and this was one of them.

"Wow." Was all Knuckles managed to say.

Tails then spoke for the first time since he had entered the room.

"But Sonic, why didn't you tell us beforehand? I mean, I'm your best friend!"

Sonic sighed and sat on the bed. He didn't have an answer for that. Luckily, Rouge spared him.

"Tails, if it was YOU in that position, would you say anything about it?"

"Well yes, of course I would of-"

Rouge raised her eyebrows.

"No." Tails said, admitting defeat.

"Exactly."

Silence enveloped the room again, before Tails spoke again.

"And Sonic, how DID you get those files, anyway?"

Sonic grinned.

"Think, you caught me in my room, with a 'secret' agent, talking about my past, with a bunch of Top-Secret government files loaded onto my computer. Put two and two together and what do you get?" Sonic asked, pointing at Rouge.

"And haven't I answered that question already?"

"I know, i just can't believe what's happening, that's all."

Knuckles was the next to speak.

"So, what kind of deal did you do with Bat-Girl then?"

Everyone else groaned. Knuckles had asked that question at least 15 times, now. And everybody was getting fed up about it.

"What?" Knuckles asked, stupidly.

Sonic, Tails and Rouge exchanged looks that plainly said "Idiot."

Sonic got up and walked over to the computer. After a few moments, a map of Prison Island came up on-screen.

"That's where I need to go."

"You're going?"

"Tails, I may I remind you that I've waited FIVE WHOLE YEARS for this. Do you really think that I'm just going to sit down and do nothing?"

Tails sighed.

"If you're going, so am I. You won't be able to reach Prison Island by foot, that's for sure. And I should be able to disable some of the security systems."

"Leave the hacking to the professionals, kid."

Everybody stared at Rouge.

"That's right, I'm going too. I can hack into any security system in less than a minute. I'm also the most advanced one here at breaking into compounds unnoticed. And if I run into trouble, I'm more than capable of taking care of myself."

Sonic looked at Knuckles.

"And you?" he asked.

"Well, I'd love to come, but the Master Emerald...y'know."

Rouge raised an eyebrow.

"If it's so important, how come you're not guarding it now?" She asked.

"Well...you see..."

"Did you shatter the emerald again?" Sonic asked.

"No, it's not that, it's just that...yes." Knuckles admitted.

"Why not come, then?"

"Aww, may be Knucklehead is too scared to come." Rouge teased, in a mock-baby voice.

"No, I'm not scared, it's just that...All right, alright! I'll come!"

Sonic grinned.

"We should wait until morning. After we all get some sleep."

Sonic nodded in agreement with Tails, thinking about how the day ahead could possibly go.

Next chapter: Rescuing Shadow, Egg-Head's discovery and more poking fun at Knuckles!


	4. Rescue

The next day, everybody was ready (And Rouge was having fun with the register)

"Big Blue?"

"Rouge..."

"Fox Boy?"

"HEY!"

"Hot-Head?"

"WHAT?!"

Knuckles snatched the paper out of her hands, and asked;

"Bat-Girl Rip-Off?"

Tails laughed while Knuckles ducked Rouge's pick-nails, which had been thrown at him by said annoyed bat. Sonic sighed. If things kept going like this, they wouldn't get to Prison Island until next year. He cleared his throat and they all looked in his direction.

"Are we going to go now? We don't have all the time in the world, you know!"

Tails nodded while Knuckles and Rouge just gave an "Hmph!" The four of them then proceeded to Tails' workshop, where the X-Tornado was waiting for them. (A/N: Don't worry! This is the only Sonic X reference here!)

"Everybody ready?" Tails asked, with everybody else clinging to the wings of the plane.

"Yep."

"Ready."

"Of course."

The plane slowly began to make its way down the runway. It began to pick up speed, before finally lifting off the ground and into the sky. Sonic looked into the pale blue sky and once it was safe too, he loosened his grip on the wings, as did the others. He rolled onto his back and tried to relax, but it was impossible. His mind was clouded with worry. He knew perfectly well that they had only one shot at breaking his son out of that place. It was then something else crossed his mind. What if he didn't remember him? What if G.U.N had erased Shadow's memory? Sonic swore that if they had erased his memory, or indeed hurt him in any way, he would destroy G.U.N personally. Then he remembered that Gerald had designed Shadow so that it would be impossible to erase his mind. Unless GUN found some way around that. Knuckles saw the look that Sonic had on his face.

"You Ok, Sonic?"

Sonic rolled his eyes.

"Knuckles, We're about to break into a top-secret government base to rescue his long, lost son. He's not worried one bit." Rouge answered for him, in a VERY sarcastic tone.

"Sorreeeee..."

Silence ensued for a few moments.

"One question, do you think Shadow will even remember Sonic?" (Knuckles doesn't know all the details about Shadow's creation)

"What do you mean?" Rouge asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well think, we could release Shadow and something like this could happen: 'Oh yes we're the sonic team and that blue guy over there, he's your dad', and then he has a mental breakdown."

"KNUCKLEHEAD, SHUT IT!" Sonic and Rouge both yelled at the same time.

"But-"

Rouge decided to play her new trump card. She got out a piece of the Master Emerald that she had found, and dangled it over the edge of the plane. Knuckles' eyes went wide.

"Ok Hot-Head, here's the deal: you don't do anything to annoy or upset any of us, or this little piece of your precious emerald meets the bottom of the sea, alright?"

Knuckles glared at her, then sat down and started to pout.

About an hour later, Prison Island came into view.

"Alright, I've equipped the X-Tornado with a special cloaking device that makes it invisible to both G.U.N's and Eggman's radars. Unfortunately, it only works on mechanical objects." Tails explained, as the plane landed on the island. He then handed three wrist communicators to each of them. "Use these to contact me when you need to." The others nodded, then ran off. Little did they know that they were not the only ones currently after Shadow...

Aboard the Egg Carrier III...

Dr. Ivo Robotnik, AKA Dr. Eggman had his sights set on the island.

"Project Shadow...I still can't believe that the ultimate weapon of destruction is related to that blue pest...nevertheless, it shall still be mine! MUAHAHAHAHA!"

Meanwhile...

The others had located a high security back-door.

"How come they always seem to have back doors?" Knuckles asked. Sonic shrugged.

"Who cares? Rouge, it's all yours. Sonic replied.

Rouge stepped up to the terminal beside the door and plugged something into it. After a minute, she said;

"Alright, we're in. I've managed to deactivate all security systems up to level three." They were about to continue through the now-open door when Tails' voice came in over the communicators.

"Alright, I've located Shadow. He's in the centre of level 5. Good luck."

The others then proceeded through the door. Due to the disabled security systems, they were easily able to make it up to level 4. As they entered lv.4, Knuckles opened an air vent and they all crawled in.

"My lord, it reeks in here!" Sonic complained as they crawled through.

"Sorry." Knuckles grinned sheepishly. Sonic and Rouge paused to give him disgusted looks, before crawling on, eventually reaching the exit.

"Wonder why there weren't any lasers in that air vent?" Sonic asked.

"Because this place was designed to be resistant against humans, not mobians, and the average human wouldn't be able to fit through that tiny vent, so they obviously didn't bother." Rouge answered for him.

"Humans can be idiots." Sonic muttered. Knuckles was about to answer 'so can you' before remembering Rouge's earlier threat. Sonic lifted his communicator to his mouth.

"Tails, how much further?" he asked.

"Well, that air vent took you through most of level 4, so after you drop down, keep going until you reach another security door. That'll take you to level 5 and it's straight on from there." Quickly and noiselessly, they dropped through the whole onto the floor. Grabbing onto Rouge and Knuckles, Sonic sped off until they reached the door. Rouge got out her hacking device again and plugged it into the terminal next to the door. Within seconds, the door was hacked and open.

"You know, for a top-secret base, the security is a complete joke." Rouge complained, as they made their way up the corridor, making sure to avoid any cameras along the way. They eventually came up to another security door, but no terminal was in sight.

"Great, so how are we going to open this without alerting the whole bas that we're here?" Knuckles asked.

"You sure this is the only way, Tails?" Sonic asked into his communicator.

"Positive." Tails replied.

Sonic was then struck by an idea. He took the hands of both his comrades and began to vibrate quickly, before going RIGHT THROUGH THE DOOR. Once they reached the other side, Knuckles asked;

"Ok, What did you do?!"

"Simple, I vibrated our molecules at such a speed that we went right through the door. In other words, we vibrated through it."

"You spend too much time around Tails." Knuckles said weakly. They were now in a very small room. A capsule was placed right in the centre. They ran up to it and peered into it, and Sonic could see his son's face for the first time in 50 years.

There was a small keypad on the capsule. Rouge tried every password she new, including the password to her own computer out of sheer desperation, before Sonic told her to stand aside. He then typed his own password in. M-A-R-I-A. As expected, the capsule opened. The seven-year-old hedgie slowly opened his eyes, trying to make out the three blurry figures above him, before recognising the middle one.

"Daddy!" he said happily. Overwhelmed by happiness, Sonic picked up his son and hugged him.

"Yes Shadow, it's me." Sonic said, tears of happiness in his eyes.

Then the wall collapsed.


	5. Battle on Prison Island

Here's chapter 5, everybody!

* * *

Amy rapped her knuckles hard on the door.

"Grandma?" She asked. "Grandma!"

"Calm down child, I'm coming!" Amy's grandma, Lily, called as she opened the door, and Amy literally collapsed into her arms.

"Now, child. What on Mobius is the matter?" Lily asked, taking her inside and putting the kettle on.

"SONICHASASONANDHESAIDHEDOESNTLOVEME!" Amy blurted out.

"Child, take a deep breath and slow down what you're saying."

Amy took a long, deep breath and repeated herself.

"I've just found out that Sonic has a son, and that he doesn't love me." She said.

That caught Lily's attention. She knew that Sonic just didn't like Amy that way, but the fact that Sonic had a son was completely new to her. (Of course)

"He has a son?" She asked, and Amy nodded.

Lily took a sip of her cocoa and asked "How did you find all of this out?"

Amy took another deep breath and began explaining everything that she had heard the day before.

Lily frowned and took another sip of her cocoa.

"Did you give him a chance to explain himself? It sounds like you only heard part of his story."

Amy sighed and looked at the floor.

"No." She muttered.

"And why not?"

Amy sighed again.

"I was upset...besides, I'm his girlfriend! He should have told me about it before! I had everything planned out for us. We would get married, have kids..."

Lily interrupted her. "Amy, answer this truthfully. Would you be eternally happy if you married Sonic?"

Amy fell silent, and began to think. 10 minutes later she gave her answer.

"No." She gave a small smile.

"And do you know what you must do now?" Lily asked.

"Yes." Amy nodded and walked out of the cottage.

Back with the others...

When the dust cleared, the heroes saw a familiar sight.

"Eggman." Knuckles growled. And sure enough, there was the egg-shaped doctor himself, in an upgraded Egg-Walker (Tails' final boss from SA1). Shadow, who was still in Sonic's arms, took one look at the ugly metal contraption, and buried his face further into his father's fur.

"Ah, Sonic! I can see that you have what I'm looking for! Now hand him over!"

Sonic clutched Shadow even tighter. "Ah, shaddup you giant talking egg!"

"Hmm, I guess I'll just have to it the hard way, then." He fired a laser blast at the heroes, which blew a hole in the floor where the heroes had quickly moved from. He steered his machine, trying to lock-on.

BAM! Knuckle's punch sent the walker off-balance.

WHAM! Rouge's kick sent it all the way over, hitting the floor with a CRASH!

"Agh! You'll pay for that!" Eggman called. He attempted to steer his creation to its feet, but before he could, a Chaos Spear hit the controls, sending the machine haywire and eventually causing it to explode, but not before Egg-Head punched the 'eject' button first. "I'll be back!" he cried, as flew off into the distance.

"And you'll just get your ass kicked again." Knuckles muttered. Sonic nodded.

"Let's go home." He said, and everybody agreed.

Later, they were standing by the X-Tornado. Tails (annoyingly) had fallen asleep at the controls of the aircraft. Knuckles approached the Two-Tailed and shook him awake.

"Awww...Knuckles, why did you have to do that?" Tails muttered drowsily. "I see you found Shadow." He said, noticing the Black and Red hedgie in the arms of his father.

"Yep. Thanks for telling us that Eggman was here, too." Sonic said, in a VERY sarcastic voice.

"Huh? Eggman was here? I didn't see him..."

Rouge scowled.

"Yeah, but it would help if you could actually stay awake, you know."

"I-I fell asleep?" Tails asked. "Oops..."

"Just. Fly. The plane."

"Ok..."

This time, they travelled on the INSIDE of the plane. Shadow was on Sonic's lap, who was generally making a fuss of him (Are you okay? How did they treat you? Did they do anything to you? Etc.). Rouge felt a small smile surface upon her lips watching them. Meanwhile, Knuckles was being his usual, stupid self.

"Are you SURE we're going the right way?"

"For the millionth time, YES!!" Tails yelled. He had officially lost all patience with the echidna.

"Oh, Knuckles."

"And what do you want, Bat-Girl?"

"Do you remember our deal?" Knuckles' face turned pale. Quick as a flash, Rouge pulled out something green and threw it out of the cockpit and into the water.

"NOOOOOO! I'm coming for you, Master Emerald!" Knuckles yelled and dived off the plane and into the water below. A few moments of silence passed before Rouge said;

"Do you think he'll like that piece of stained glass?" she asked, pulling out the REAL Master Emerald piece and the plane filled with laughter.

Later that night...

Later, everything was silent in Sonic's house. Sonic was watching Shadow sleep soundly on the guest bed. Sonic got up and whispered; "Good night, son." before walking out of the room, closing the door behind him. Sonic was the happiest he had been in years. He kept on pinching himself to make sure that he wasn't dreaming all of this. He then noticed his phone flashing, and he picked it up.

"You have one new message, received today at 2:47pm. Playing message."

"Hey Sonic, it's Amy. Before you destroy the phone, I would like to say that I deserved everything you said to me last night. I shouldn't of shouted at you like that, just like I shouldn't of chased you around for all this time, because quite frankly, it's been a complete waste of time for the both of us. I wanna make it up to you, tomorrow, Station Square Park, 3:00pm. No, this isn't a trick to get you to do date me. I'll see you tomorrow, I guess..."

"End of message."

Sonic put the phone down, thinking whether he should accept Amy's invitation or not. Then he heard a voice behind him.

"So, Pinky's trying to patch things up, is she?"

Sonic spun around, to find himself face-to-face with a snowy coloured bat.

"Rouge!" he blurted out. "I thought you'd already left?!"

Rouge shrugged. "I did, but I got worried about how Shadow could be taking all this, so I came back. Anyway, are you gonna accept Amy's invitation or not?"

Sonic shrugged. "Dunno. I just don't want it to end in another argument like yesterday."

Rouge smiled. "Thought you'd say that." She went to speak again, but was cut off by a knock on the front door. Sonic opened it to find a red, soaked and pissed-off echidna glaring back at him.


	6. Eggman again!

Knuckles pushed past Sonic and began walking up to Rouge, who started whistling innocently. Knuckles got right in her face before yelling;

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?!"

A sly grin appeared on Rouge's face.

"What was that for?"

"You know what!"

"No, I don't."

Knuckles growled and pulled out the piece of green stained glass.

"You tricked me into believing that this was a piece of the Master Emerald! Now, explain yourself! And give that Master Emerald piece back!"

"What? It's not my fault you need glasses now, is it?" Rouge answered, clearly very amused.

"ARRRRRGGGHHHHH!" Knuckles had really had it by now. If things carried on like this, he would probably end up doing something stupid – as usual.

He was about to scream something at Rouge before Sonic cut him off. He had good reasons too, as well. Not only did he have a child sleeping upstairs, but he didn't want Shadow to learn any of Knuckles' bad language, either.

"I'll stop when she-"

"Oh look, Knuckles. There's Tikal!" Sonic said, pointing over Knuckles' shoulder.

Knuckles immediately turned around and started running in the direction that Sonic had pointed in.

"Wait for me, Tikal! Don't leave me again!" he yelled as he ran. Rouge laughed.

"Well, I'd better be going, too. And this time, I swear I will actually go." Sonic nodded.

"Ok. And Rouge?"

"Yeah?" Rouge asked turning to face him.

"Thanks for everything."

"No problem." Rouge said, leaning forward and kissing the Blue Blur on the cheek, before flying off.

If she had thought to look behind her, she would of saw first-hand that it was possible for a hedgehog's face to go from the blue to red in less than five seconds. Trying to keep strange thoughts out his head, Sonic muttered;

"I hope Shadow's still in bed. Getting him to get in bed was as easy as...well...getting any other seven-year-old kid in bed. In other words, almost impossible."

The next day...

"Sonic, I'm sure it'll be OK."

Sonic, Tails and Shadow were at the breakfast table, and Tails was trying to tell Sonic that everything would be all right during their meeting with Amy later on.

"Come on, this is AMY we're talking about here, you know."

"Sonic, didn't she say that she's come to her senses about you?"

"Tails, can you remember what happened the last time she said that?" Sonic asked.

"Um... yeah." Tails replied, getting a flashback on opening the front door and getting bowled down by an avalanche of dried flowers.

Sonic checked his watch.

"Almost 11.am. Better get going. C'mon, Shadow."

Shadow nodded and followed his father out the door. A few minutes later they were walking through Station Square, getting odd looks from passers-by.

"The media's gonna have a field day after this..." Sonic muttered, as a group of teenage girls stared at him as they passed.

"Daddy, what is Amy like?" Shadow asked.

"Well...she's a nice girl...chases me a lot..."

"Is she your girlfriend?" Shadow asked, making Sonic splutter.

"N-No, we're not T-That close." Sonic answered. As he said this, he found himself thinking of Rouge again.

'How come I just can't keep my mind off her? Don't tell me that I'm falling for her..." he thought to himself.

They turned around and noticed that a little line of followers had gathered behind them. Sonic gave them all a sharp glare and they scattered quickly, allowing Sonic and Shadow to continue. When they got to the park however, Amy was no-where to be seen.

"Where is she?" Sonic asked.

As if on cue, a large metal craft, with the highly familiar logo of a certain Egg-Shaped villain came crashing out of the lake in front in front of them.

"What the..." but before Sonic could finish, a large metal claw shot out and grabbed Shadow.

"Shadow!"

The craft then began to take off. It rose higher and higher, taking Shadow with it.

"DADDY!" he cried, terrified.

"Shadow...no...Shadow..." Sonic whispered. He then felt himself being picked up and gain height.

"Huh?" He asked, looking at the city below him. He then looked upwards and saw none other than Rouge, carrying him towards the robot.

"Count yourself lucky. My apartment's only a few blocks away from here, so I could see what's happening." She explained. And with great effort, she swung Sonic onto her back.

The craft then began to fire lasers at the pair.

"Hold on tight!"

Sonic held on to Rouge as tightly as he could as she began to manoeuvre her way away from the lasers.

When they were close enough, they spotted Shadow, still trapped in the claw. Then they were directly underneath him, Sonic asked;

"Rouge, can you launch me towards the claw holding Shadow?"

"Sure thing." She answered, and Sonic immediately felt himself being propelled forwards. He curled up into a spindash and easily sawed his way through the claw and grabbed hold of Shadow. Rouge then expertly flew beneath them and caught them. When they were a safe distance from the craft, Sonic pointed his hand at the craft and summoned up a HUGE Chaos Spear, totally obliterating the craft.

"I'll get you for this, you Blue Rat!" Eggman yelled as he flew off in his Mean Machine (Or whatever he calls that mini-craft of his)

When the heroes touched the ground, Rouge (literally) collapsed, massaging her sore back.

"Man, you guys weigh a ton."

Sonic laughed and took hold of her hands, helping her up.

"Thanks." She muttered, before they heard a screech behind them. It was Amy, staring at them in horror.

Sonic looked at Rouge, and quickly let go of her, both of them embarrassed, but Amy had seen enough. She turned around and began to run back down the street as fast as she could. Rouge was the first one to speak.

"Bye Bye friendship with Amy." She said.

Sonic couldn't help but agree.


	7. Feelings

Disclaimer: Fact: I don't own squat.

* * *

Amy stormed in, slammed the door of her bedroom shut behind her and launched herself on her bed, crying into her pillow. After a few minutes she was able to stop the trail of tears flowing down her cheeks.

'What am I doing? I told myself that I'd got over him...' she asked herself. 'I guess that letting go is much harder than I had anticipated...' she a sigh escape her lips as she took in these words. 'I'll admit it; the only reason that I started chasing him in the first place was because of all those times he saved me...I thought he did because he loved me...I guess I was too thick-headed to realise that he did it for everyone.' Amy got off her bed and slowly made her way to the window. 'I never actually thought about his feelings before, I just acted upon my own. My god, I've been so selfish...' she trailed off, guilt overcoming her. 'Sonic, I'm so sorry, I should of seen this sooner...'

Meanwhile, At Rouge's apartment...

The albino bat walked in and threw herself onto her sofa, a small smile etched upon her face. She remembered holding hands with the blue hedgehog only an hour before, even if it had been a result of the Egg-Shaped freak trying to kidnap his son, and even if Pinky had broken it up after about 3 seconds. It had felt...nice. Being around the hedgehog made her feel something that she had never felt before. She loved being near him, being around him. She couldn't get enough of him. She couldn't deny it any longer.

"I've fallen in love...with Sonic the hedgehog." She finally admitted. As she said this, she felt as though a great weight had been lifted off her chest. "Now, there's got to be some way to get him to notice me... there has just got to be." she muttered to herself. Little did she know that he already WAS noticing her a lot.

Sonic's place...

Sonic, Shadow and Tails were all currently at the dinner table. Sonic stabbed at his steak pie, clearly uninterested in the food. Shadow, noticing his father's strange mood, asked him what was wrong, but Sonic simply just smiled and told him that everything was okay. Shadow, being too young to really understand, accepted this answer, but Tails had a good idea of what could be bothering the fastest thing alive. After Shadow had been put to bed, he decided that it was time to get some answers.

"Sonic, you can't fool me, I know perfectly well that something's up, know what happened?"

Sonic sighed. He had been expecting this to happen, and he muttered something about Amy and hands.

"Sorry?" Tails asked. Sonic felt himself beginning to go red.

"Well, after the incident with 'butnik earlier, Amy saw me..." he trailed off.

"Yes?"

"...caught me holding hands with Rouge." Sonic muttered. Tails just managed to stop himself from grinning stupidly.

"It's not what you think!" Sonic said hastily, but Tails already knew what could be wrong with the hedgehog.

"Hhm...Sonic, what do you think of Rouge?"

"Huh?" Sonic looked at the fox, questionably.

"Oh, come on. I've seen the way you act around her."

"Wait, are you implying that..."

"Hhm, MAYBE."

"Tails..."

"Sonic, seriously though, what do you think of her?"

Sonic opened his mouth to speak, but no words came out.

"Oh. I see. Ah."

"See what?" Sonic asked weakly.

"Do you keep staring at her?"

Sonic groaned. "...yes."

"Do you feel yourself heat up whenever she's around you?"

"...yes."

"Do you blush every time she kisses you?"

"...yes...wait a minute, WHAT?!"

"AH HA! So it's true! She DID kiss you!" Tails cracked up laughing. Sonic's face was redder than Knuckles' fur had been when he had tried making Tomato Sauce. Tails managed to control his laughter.

"Seriously though, you definitely have feelings for a certain Bat."

"Ya think?"

"There's no doubt about it, you've got a HUGE crush on her." Tails said, unable to keep himself from grinning like an idiot.

Sonic gave the Fox a strange look.

"What's so funny?" He asked.

"Oh, It's just the whole 'You-and-her' thing is kinda cute."

Sonic smirked.

"You can talk. We all know about you and Cream." This made Tails go pale.

"...what?" he asked, trying not to blush.

"So it's true, you DO like her!" It was Sonic's turn to look smug and Tails' turn to go red. Sonic lent forward. "So, how does it feel to have a taste of your own medicine?"

Tails attempted a glare, but failed miserably. He summoned up what he thought was an intimidating voice.

"I-If you tell her, I-I swear..."

Sonic laughed.

"Come on, Tails, why would I do that?"

"...or I'll tell Rouge what you think of her!"

"Deal." The two shook hands on it.

"But, if you tell Cream, just remember..."

"Don't worry, Tails. The day I tell Cream will be the day ol' Knucklehead gets some sense knocked into him, and we both know that that ain't gonna happen anytime soon." That last comment made both of them laugh.

In Hawaii...

"TIKAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLL! WHERE ARE YOU?" Knuckles shouted.

* * *

And that's chapter 7, folks! Don't forget to review! And also check out Ninja Taskforce Ninpuu Sentai Sonicanger and SonOn Wings!

And if you can, ReaderADV's (I'm cowriter) Sonic TLSF: Pure Randomness and Sonic NTNSS: In which there is much randomness!


	8. Eavesdropper

The next day Tails woke up to the delicious smells coming from the kitchen. As he entered the kitchen, he saw the reason behind the smell.

"Pancakes!" he cried.

Shadow was already wolfing them down like there was no tomorrow. Like his father, he had kinda a bottomless stomach. Tails smirked at the sight and grabbed a plate.

"I used to make Shadow and Maria pancakes once a week aboard the ARK" Sonic told him, flipping a pancake into the air and catching it with perfection. "If I mentioned the word the word 'pancakes' Shadow here would be in front of me in less than a second, looking for them. Isn't that right, Shadz?"

The black hedgehog didn't answer, but carried on chomping instead. Sonic smirked and turned to face Tails directly.

"By the way, do you mind looking after Shadow for a while?" I've got something to do..."

"Don't worry about it, of course I will."

"Thanks, little bud."

"But...would this 'something' involve a certain bat?"

Sonic blushed several shades of red.

"W-What gave you that idea?"

"That bouquet of white daffodils left on the cabinet beside the front door. Her favourites. I'm not blind, Sonic."

Sonic sighed.

"Oh all right, I'm going to ask Rouge out on a date. Happy now?"

Tails grinned.

"But Maria said a date was a fruit. Are you going to take Ms. Rouge fruit picking?" Shadow asked, looking up from his now empty plate.

Sonic laughed.

"That's not exactly what I meant, Shadow..."

"Then what did you mean?"

"Hhm...I'll tell you when you're older..."

"Aww, but I wanna know NOW..."

"Later, Shadow. Anyway Tails, I gotta go. See ya."

"See ya, big bro."

Sonic picked up the daffodils and walked out of the door. Tails looked at Shadow, thinking of a way to keep him occupied until Sonic came back.

"Sooo...you like drawing?"

Later...

Sonic was outside Rouge's place. He was almost as nervous as he had been when they had been breaking Shadow out of Prison Island. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. A few seconds passed before the female bat answered.

"Um...hey Rouge." Sonic tried to wipe away all nervousness he had, but failed miserably. "I...brought you flowers." Sonic produced the daffodils from behind him.

"Daffodils! My favourite!" Rouge took the bunch and sniffed them. "But why-"

"Um, Rouge...will you go on a date with me?" Sonic cringed inwardly, hoping he had said this correctly.

A few moments passed before Rouge gave her answer. Rouge threw her arms around the hedgehog, taking him by surprise.

"Oh Sonic, of course I will!" after a few more seconds Rouge broke the embrace and laughed at Sonic's face. "Aw, you look cute when you blush!" this statement caused Sonic to go even redder.

"So." She said. "Where're we goin'?" Sonic grinned.

"Diamond palace."

Rouge nearly fell over. 'DIAMOND PALACE?! That was the most expensive place in town! Not to mention the most romantic...'

"But...how did you..." Rouge began.

"Well, seeing as I'm a world-renowned hero, I have my connections." Sonic told her, the smile on his face looking as though it'd never vanish. "So that's you and me, seven o'clock, OK? I'll pick you up."

"Roger." Rouge said, wrapping her arms around him again. Little did they know they were being watched...

Their eavesdropper watched from his perch, watching everything that was going on. He looked like Sonic, except for several defects. He was emerald green in colour and had a pair of large scars running up his chest. His eyes were sapphire blue and his shoes were green and rimmed with black with a silver buckle. He was wearing a black jacket with a fire pattern on both sleeves and had sunglasses that were crimson red in colour.

"Perfect." He thought, and took off as fast as the blue wonder himself.

Later, Sonic entered his house in almost dream-like state, and forget about the step by the doorway, and fell over it.

"Ow..." he complained, massaging his now sore head. "Ooh..." he entered the lounge to find Shadow lying on the floor, surrounded by felt pens and scribbling on two pieces of paper, with Tails watching him.

"Daddy!" Shadow said happily, holding up a picture. It was a picture of Sonic and Rouge, with Shadow in between them, all standing in front of a large house. Sonic could also pick out Tails and Knuckles, as well.

"Well done, Shadow. Why don't we put your picture up somewhere, where we can all see it?" Sonic asked.

Shadow nodded and held up another picture. This one was of Maria, laying face down in what appeared to be blood. And a man was standing next to her, with a pistol in hand. It was only then Sonic realized what Shadow had seen. He crouched down and hugged his son tightly, tears trickling down his face. Tails watched them silently. He wished that Sonic still gave him this kind of attention...but he seemed to of stopped getting it upon Shadow's arrival.

Elsewhere...

Sonic and Rouge's eavesdropper was studying the 'Lonely Hearts' column of the Station Square times. He scanned down the article until he found what he was looking for: The picture and description of a certain pink female.

"Perfect." We whispered. Then the TV behind him flashed up a news report:

"This just in: There have been reports of a red yeti with dreadlocks roaming around the plains of Antarctica, seemingly moaning out 'TIIIIIIIIIIIIKAAAAAAAAAAAAL!'. This is believed to be some sort of yeti mating call. Keep watching for more updates. Thank you."

And that's chapter 8! Anyone who can guess the identity of this 'Eavesdropper' gets a cookie.


	9. Date

Yes, another chapter! Enjoy!

Sonic was smartening himself in front of the mirror. He had put on a tuxedo, complete with black pants. He was even more nervous than before, and this was obvious in his face. He was trying to keep calm (and failing). The only thing he was currently thinking of at the moment was how his date with the love of his life was going to go. Tails was watching him from the hallway.

"I wish it was me going out with MY love tonight..." he thought to himself. An image of Cream in a long-flowing, flowery dress entered his mind. However, Tails was soon snapped out of his trance by Sonic.

"Mobius to Tails, come in, please. Repeat, Mobius to Tails, come in please?"

"Huh? Wha?" Tails asked, annoyed at his fantasies being interrupted.

"Are you Ok, bro? You kinda zoned out on me, there." Sonic asked, looking concerned for his younger brother.

"I'll be Ok. What did you want?" Tails asked.

"Well, I'm going to be leaving pretty soon. I'm gonna be leaving Shadow at Vanilla and Cream's house, all right? And YES, I've already told them about Shadow..."

Shoving away more images of Cream, Tails nodded and told him he'd better get going, as Rouge would be waiting for him.

Rouge's place...

The white bat checked her watch. It was ten past seven.

'He should have been here Ten minutes ago!' She thought furiously. No sooner had she said this, had a familiar blue streak appeared and stopped in front of her.

"It's about time you got here!" Rouge said, pretending to be angry. Sonic laughed.

"Hey, its better being late than never, isn't it?" The blue hero replied, rubbing the back of his neck. Rouge grinned and leapt onto his back.

"Tally-Ho, tiger!" She said.

"Yes, Ma-am!" Sonic replied in a posh voice, before zooming off, his date clinging to his back.

Meanwhile...

Amy was waiting in Station Square, waiting for her date to pick her up. Finally, she caught sight of a green hedgehog in a tuxedo. Smiling, the pink female picked up her handbag and ran off to meet him.

At Diamond Palace...

Sonic and Rouge entered the posh restaurant. The walls where golden and the carpet was a magnificent ruby colour, just like Shadow's eyes. The tables were polished pine and the chairs were silver, with a ruby cushion on each. A waiter, a black and yellow-haired Tiger walked up to the pair.

"Greetings and welcome to the...Ah! Master Sonic! Table for two, is that right? Allow me escort you to your table." He said in a French accent, and led them to their table. "I hope you enjoy yourselves, Master Sonic and Miss..."

"Rouge." She told him.

"And Miss Rouge. I hope you enjoy your visit."

"Thank you, Jordan." Sonic said to him. Jordan bowed to them both before leaving the pair. Sonic pulled Rouge's chair out for her.

"Always the gentleman, aren't you?" Rouge asked, sitting down. Sonic blushed slightly and sat down himself.

"Shall we order, then?"

Later…

Sonic and Rouge left the dance floor, both of them laughing. They sat back down at their table.

"You know, I don't think anything could ruin this night." Sonic told her.

"Oh yeah? Look behind you." Rouge told him.

Sonic spun round in his seat to see what she meant. His jaw hit the floor. Amy and Scourge had just entered the restaurant. Rouge snapped him out of his trance.

"So, wonder who that green boy is?" she asked.

Sonic turned around to face her.

"That's Scourge. He's another one from ARK!" Rouge's eyes widened.

"ARK? But how -"

"I don't know." He lent in, indicating that she should as well.

"But by the looks of him, he was only released within the past few years."

"Then I take it that his resemblance to you isn't just a coincidence?" Sonic shook his head.

"Far from it. gerald decided to give me a brother when I was 3. He was created from my DNA. We were like brothers, until he was imprisoned when Shadow was three because he was deemed too dangerous to be around. Two years later, he broke out, killing thirteen people in the process.

Rouge's mouth dropped in horror.

"He killed THIRTEEN PEOPLE?!" she just managed to keep her voice down.

"Yep. For some reason, they were all males. My guess is that he has something against physically hurting females."

"At least we know he won't harm Amy. But you know one thing?"

"What?"

"He's watching us."

Sonic turned, and Scourge quickly put his head down again.

"I doubt it's just a coincidence that we're in the same restaurant at the same time and that he's dating AMY of all people." He muttered.

"I agree. So, what do we do now?"

Sonic paused.

"I say we just keep an eye on him. Keep as many tabs on him as possible. I know what could happen if he gets angry..." Rouge couldn't help but agree.

Later on...

Sonic was dropping Rouge off at her place.

"I had a wonderful night, even though it could have gone better." Rouge told him.

"That's true." He replied. It was his turn to kiss her on the cheek.

"I'll be seeing you soon, Rouge. I've got to pick up Shadow from Vanilla's place."

Rouge smiled at Shadow's name.

"Well, you better get going. You don't want Scourge getting him..." She froze, her eyes widening in horror.

"Sonic...what if Scourge knows about Shadow?!"

Sonic's eyes widened.

"Good lord..." he muttered...

Vanilla's place...

"Daddy!"

Sonic smiled and picked up his young son.

"Thanks for everything, Vanilla." He told the adult rabbit.

"Oh, it was nothing. He's a little angel! Anyway, how did your date with Rouge go?"

Sonic paused for a moment. He could hear a report on a spiny red thing roaming around the plains of Shahra desert calling 'Tiiikaaaallll!' on Vanilla's TV.

"Better than I could of hoped for." He whispered. "Anyway vanilla, I'll have to go. Tails might be wondering where we got to."

Vanilla beamed. "We'll be seeing you!!" She closed the door and the two hedgehogs made their way back down the path. When they reached the end however, a familiar green hedgehog dropped down in front of them.

"Hello Sonic, Shadow."

EVIL CLIFFIE!! gasp I know tis barely featured Shadow, but I had to do this chapter to keep the storyline going. Sorry to anyone who really wanted to see Li'l Shadow again.


	10. Flashbacks

Shayla Robotnik is the property of Twilight the Gecko.

"Unky Scourge?" Shadow asked.

"Long time no see isn't it, Brother, Nephew?" Sonic frowned.

"I'm not your brother."

"And why would that be?" Sonic almost laughed.

"Why? After what happened aboard the ARK?"

"What, so you blame me for that too, do you?" Scourge snorted. "Because I can assure you that you're blaming the wrong mobian, just like everyone else." Scourge sighed.

"We're not stupid. Who else could have done that much damage? Santa Claus?" Scourge actually looked hurt.

"You know, out of all the people who wouldn't have believed me, I didn't expect my own brother to be one of them. Especially after those first eight years we spent together."

Sonic continued glaring.

"Scourge, we both know a lot's changed since we...or should I say, I was three. Or Eleven. Don't you think more recent events have changed that?"

Scourge turned around, paused, and turned back to him.

"I see you're not going to believe me by just me saying it. So I'm going to give you some advice. Shayla Robotnik. Look into her. And if you want to...." Scourge threw Sonic a disk, who caught it. ".... Go to the location on this disk. I'll meet you there." Scourge then turned around and sped off in a flash of green light.

"Daddy?"

"Yes, Shadow?"

"What's wrong with Uncle Scourge?"

"..."

That night....

Sonic already knew a bit about Shayla Robotnik. He knew that she had been the niece of Gerald Robotnik and also that she was a nasty piece of work who should have been locked up in a containment centre. She thought all Mobians were lower than dirt and that Shayla had also wanted Shadow to be nothing more than a weapon of destruction and had protested when Gerald had decided otherwise. But what could Scourge have meant?

Sonic loaded the disk full of ARK files that Rouge had given to him. She had offered to help him out on this. After a small amount of time searching, Rouge pointed at something on screen.

"Look. There's Shayla's diary! Maybe there'll be something in there that'll give us a clue!" She said. Sonic nodded and clicked on the file. He scanned down the file until one particular date caught his eye.

13th September 2146

While on another observation trip to the planet, we ended up finding a young blue hedgehog. We took him back. I shall make sure that Gerald only treats him as a test subject. These stupid creatures are lower than dirt, after all.

o-o

Rouge emitted a growl. 'LOWER THAN DIRT?!' she thought furiously.

o-o

17th September 2146

That idiot has not listened to me. He insists on treating that vile thing as an equal. Can't he see that these....mutants are no more than test subjects?! I'll make sure he sees sense.

21st September 2146

I saw that horrible thing in the corridor today, being shown around Maria. Can't that crazy fool of a scientist see he's a danger to her?! I glared down at it as I passed. I think I might have scared it as it emitted a squeak. Good. If I were allowed, I would've locked it up in a cage right there and then.

25th November 2146

The professor decided to give that mutant a companion. He said that it wasn't fair for it to be the only one of its kind aboard the space colony. I just say it's a waste of scientific resources, but that stupid fool JUST WON'T LISTEN!!!! This is a scientific laboratory, not a mutant freak reproduction centre!!!

o-o

By now, Rouge was gripping onto her chair so hard that she was impaling it. If Shayla was in front of her right now, she would have throttled her instantly.

o-o

29th November 2146

That...thing's... 'Brother' was created today, from that hedgehog's own DNA, speed-grown of course, to match the mutants' current age. Apparently, its name is 'Scourge'. Humph...Why even GIVE it a name?

9th December 2146

I saw those two playing with Maria again....and also with some of the other children on board....stupid kids, don't they see what danger they're in?!

25th December 2146

Looks like Maria taught the hedgehogs about a certain 'Holiday' of ours....because I saw them running around wearing Santa Claus hats. And they're both faster than otters sliding through cooking oil. When I get my hands on one of them, I'll.....I'll.....actually, I don't know, but it'll be something bad (to them).

o-o

"I take it that you and Scourge were really like brothers once, huh?" Rouge asked.

"Yeah." Sonic sighed. Then scrolled down the page for any other dates he could remember. One caught his eye.

o-o

June 17th, 2149

The professor today said that we'd been visited by Black Aliens who wanted him to help them. I think he needs a check up with our psychiatrist....

August 5th, 2149

Ok...I absolutely can't BELIEVE this, but I was wrong about something. Yes, I, the great Shayla Robotnik was WRONG about something! Those Black Aliens that the professor told us all about turned up on the ARK. Their leader's name was 'Black Doom'. They said that they were looking for an 'Ultimate Life Form' or something like that. Uncle agreed to help them, for if he achieved, it would be one of the greatest successes in scientific history. Hmm....I haven't seen those...mutants all day....maybe those aliens scared them off. If they did, then I hope they stay for a while.

o-o

"Nice woman...." Rouge growled.

"Isn't she?" Sonic muttered, and then they continued reading the diary.

o-o

November 15th, 2149

Plans for the Ultimate Life Form are currently in their final stages. In a few months, we shall begin the construction.

January 8th 2150

I today learned that somehow, that mutant and his clone have been training in chaos abilities. Why waste such time and energy on a pair of freaks?! This is insane!!! As soon as I inherit this place, those two will be thrown into containment cells....

March 24th 2150

Preparations are almost ready. Doom's DNA will be fused with the mutant's. Apparently, he was the only choice. I pray that his disgusting DNA doesn't make something go wrong...

April 2nd 2150

The fusion was a success! The foetus is currently in a cryogenic tube in the main laboratory. Black Doom has already left. I (and a third of the other scientists on board) want the foetus speed-grown, but dear uncle won't allow it. He said it'd be best for it to be raised "the hard way".

November 3rd, 2150

It's now two months until the planned date for the 'birth'. I found out that Gerald has no intentions of letting the unnamed project be used for destruction. I also found out that he intends for it to meet the mutants. WHAT THE HELL IS HE THINKING?! DOESN'T HE KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN?! We argued about this for hours, until he told me that if I carry on, I'd lose my job, regardless of the fact that I am his niece.

o-o

"The only reason that Gerald hadn't fired her already was because she was one of the best scientists on the ARK." Sonic explained.

"He should have fired her, anyway." Rouge muttered, Sonic nodding in agreement.

o-o

January 13th, 2151

Today was the day of the birth. Everything went successfully. The still unnamed project is currently in an observatory container, where scientists will study his progress. I have been banned from anything concerning the project, as Gerald knows what may happen. I would argue my case, but I know that I'd be likely to lose my job if I did. Dear Uncle wants the blue one to see the project in 2 days, and also to name it. I can't believe this.....

January 15th, 2151

Well, no matter how much I hate it, the blue mutant met his....'son'....named it Shadow....how sweet....I think I'm going to puke.

o-o

Rouge stopped reading and looked at Sonic. She saw a tear slowly work its way down his face.

"How could she...." She heard him whisper.

(Flashback)

Two seven-year-old hedgehogs were waiting at a large door, along with a young, blonde-haired human girl. The two troublesome hedgehogs were trying see through the crack in the door and see what was happening inside the room. Eventually, the door opened, causing the two to jump backwards. Gerald's assistant, Gemma, appeared at the door.

"Sonic, I think someone wants to meet you...." She told him, leading him inside. Scourge tried to follow, but Gemma blocked his way, telling him that he would have to wait awhile. Scourge folded his arms and began to pout.

Gemma lead sonic into the lab, where Gerald was waiting, with a small bundle in his arms.

"Would you like to hold him, Sonic?" Gerald asked.

Sonic nodded excitedly, holding out his arms. Gerald carefully lowered the bundle into Sonic's waiting arms. Sonic looked at his son for the first time. He was a beautiful baby boy hedgehog. He was black in colour, red highlights in his quills, some of which were burnt upward and had a just-visible white tuft of fur upon his chest. The baby hedgehog looked into his father's eyes with his own beautiful ruby red ones.

"Would you like to name him, Sonic?" Gerald asked the new father.

Sonic looked at his son again. He looked almost like a Shadow due to his black fur....Shadow....

"I want to call him Shadow."

(End flashback)

By this time, tears were streaking down Sonic's face at a hundred miles a minute.

"Sonic?" Rouge asked, putting an arm around him.

"I'm Ok, it's just...just....how can she even SAY these things?!" Sonic cried.

"Because she was a horrible, smelly, awful, ugly, disgusting b*tch. That's why." Rouge told him. Sonic let out a watery chuckle, then continued to read, no matter what his mind was telling him.

o-o

August 7th 2151

I now know that Shadow now stays with Maria and the mutants.....this is just getting out of hand...

o-o

(Flashback)

Sonic was on the couch in his room. He had Shadow sitting on his lap, and was holding a bottle of milk to the baby hedgehog's mouth. Sonic watched as his son slowly fell asleep while drinking the milk. Shadow fell asleep with a bit of milk still left in the bottle. Sonic lifted Shadow carefully and carried him into another room, where he lowered him into a cot. He then leant forward and kissed his forehead.

"G'night, Shadz." Sonic whispered, before turning the light off, leaving the room and closing the door, before heading off to his own bed.

(Scene change)

"Come on Shadow, open wide." Sonic held the spoon of Baby Food to Shadow's mouth. Shadow opened his mouth.

"Da-Da." He said, making Sonic drop the spoon in surprise. Shadow blinked. "Da-Da." He repeated.

(End flashback)

Sonic sighed and turned off the computer screen. He looked down.

"Sonic?" Rouge asked nervously.

"Getting out of hand.....she has no idea what she's talking about.....Grr." He sighed, turned the screen back on and scrolled down to a familiar date.

o-o

June 23rd 2153

I have put up with this long enough. I gave Gerald a faked report on Scourge's danger level. Gerald had no choice to agree that he should be locked up...that fool....the blue one will be next.

o-o

Silence.

"What?!" Sonic yelled. Rouge took a step backwards. Sonic scrolled down the file, finally stopping on the date he was looking for.

o-o

October 5th 2156

Today there was an accident in my own laboratory. One of the Super Chaos Drives exploded. I was unharmed, as I was not there at the time. Thirteen of my male assistants were killed in the explosion, however. Of course, I pinned all the blame on Scourge. Wouldn't want any attention to be drawn to myself now, would I?"

o-o

Rouge read the last entry several times over, as did Sonic. His fists were so clenched up that his nails were digging into his hands, causing them to bleed.

"THAT (BLEEP)!!!! SCOURGE WAS INNOCENT ALL THIS TIME!!!! And look what I did to him! If she's still alive, I'll kill her!!!" he roared.

o-o

July 17th 2158

I've decided to alert GUN about how dangerous project Shadow could be. I can't stand those...things being here any longer. They told me they shall be her within the week.

o-o

That was the last entry. GUN had obviously attacked the ARK faster than Shayla had thought they would.

(FLASHBACK)

Sonic, Shadow and Maria were running down a long corridor, sirens blaring. Sonic turned a corner, and then turned round to see that Maria and Shadow weren't behind him. He didn't notice the GUN soldier creeping up on him, armed with a taser, until it was too late. Sonic felt the 4000 volt shock tear through his body, then collapsed, unconscious.

(Scene change, 45 years later)

"Man, those soldiers sure are messy, aren't they, Bob?" a cleaner asked his companion.

"Sure are." The other answered, propping his mop against a control panel, not noticing the button he pressed in doing so. There was a hissing noise and they both turned around to see a cryogenic tube to open and a Blue Hedgehog to step out of it. 'It' opened its eyes to scan the room. It saw the unlucky cleaners and raised its hand.

"Chaos...Spear!"

Later...

Sonic kicked the pile of destroyed droids. He'd looked all over the base, destroyed every robot, defeated every human and blown most of the place apart, but Shadow was nowhere to be found. Sonic turned and ran out of the base, intent on finding his son.

(End flashback)

Sonic opened his eyes again. He hated that memory. He ejected the disk and inserted the one Scourge had given him.

"It's a map to Shayla's base!" Sonic exclaimed.

"So she's still alive?!" Rouge asked.

"No matter how much I hate to say it, Shayla was an amazing scientist. She probably found a way around mortality....come on, lets go!"


	11. Shayla's Base

Rouge looked at him.

"You're going?" she asked. Sonic nodded.

"Do you think I'm going to let her get away with this, Rouge?" he asked. "I just can't. She was...responsible for everything that happened. Mine and Shadow's cryogenic freezing, Maria's death...the imprisonment of my brother." Sonic turned back to the computer and printed out a copy of the map to Shayla's base

"And besides...Scourge will be there, won't he? I have to apologise for believing what Shayla told us all..." Sonic looked at the ground, a sad look upon his face. Rouge moved forwards and put her arm around the blue hero.

"Sonic…Sonic, listen to me. You weren't the only one aboard the ARK who believed her. Everybody did. Scourge knows this and I'm sure that he'll understand." Sonic looked up at her words.

"Really?" he asked.

"Positive." Rouge replied, smiling. "Now why so glum, this isn't like you. Where's that cool, laid back Sonic I've gotten so used to?" she asked. Sonic thought to himself to a moment, before answering her.

"You're right. What is there to be worried about? Plus, we're not going to get there just by standing here! Come on, let's go!" He was about to run out of the door, but Rouge caught his arm.

"Don't you think we should tell Shadow and Tails before we go?"

"Yeeeeeeaaaaahhhhhh…." Sonic grinned sheepishly. Then his ears perked up a little. "Wait, you're coming with me?"

"Of course. Did you really think I was going to let you go on your own?" She asked, placing her hand on her hips and a devious little smirk on her face, causing the hero to Blush.

"Roooouge…"

...

"You're WHAT?" Tails blurted out.

"You heard me. Rouge and I are paying a certain relative of 'butniks a visit and I was asking if you could watch Shadow for me while we're gone.

"Err….sure, I guess…."

"Thanks, little bud. I'll make it up to you later, okay?" Sonic nodded at Rouge, and they both took off out the door. Tails sighed loudly. Ever since Shadow had come, he'd been getting less and less attention from his older adoptive brother.

...

The green hedgehog was standing at the door of Shayla's base.

"Maybe he's no coming, after all…." He muttered to himself, turning around….only to be glomped by his blue-quilled brother.

"..." Sonic blurted out, tears falling down his face.

Scourge grinned and pulled him into an embrace, and started to scratch behind his ear, knowing that this would calm Sonic down. Just as he expected, Sonic started reacting immediately to the treatment he was getting. He stopped sobbing and started to purr, relaxing.

Rouge touched down on the ground and grinned at the sight of the pair of them, Scourge holding Sonic in his arms. They truly were brothers.

"Scourge...I'm so sorry...I was stupid to believe what that bitch said..." Sonic murmured. Scourge responded by giving him a small squeeze.

"Sonic, don't...it's not your fault, and I forgive you." Scourge told him, softly. Sonic looked up.

"Really?" he asked.

"Did you really think I wouldn't?"

"Yes..." Sonic mumbled.

"How'd you escape, anyway?"

"Simple. I was locked up in the same base as you were. One of the many things you smashed was the control panel to y chamber and you released me. I tried to catch up to you, but the time I was out of that place, you were long gone."

That made Sonic feel even more guilty. Scourge noticed this and squeezed him again.

Rouge looked up at the gigantic building in front of them. "So this is really Shayla's base?" she asked.

"Yep." Scourge replied.

"What does she even do in there...?"

"You really want to know?" Scourge also looked up at the building. "If you really want o know, she uses mobians as her personal lab rats...she gives them the most awful injections and crap...the ones that survive become her unwilling slaves..."

"She's definitely one of Ivo's relations." Rouge muttered, Sonic nodded, a look of complete and disgust on his face.

"Look at this." Scourge lifted up the left leg of his tracksuit bottoms to reveal a large purple swelling.

"This is what Shayla gave to me back on ARK. It still hasn't gone down since, and I doubt it ever will."

If Sonic and Rouge had looked disgusted beforehand, then that was nothing to what they looked liked now.

Sonic looked back up to his brother.

"I'm guessing that you want this place taken down?" he asked. Scourge nodded.

"Yep." Scourge answered him, pulling his trouser leg back down.

Rouge had already gone over to the keypad attached to the gate. She had barely been working on it for a minute before she had successfully cracked the code. The gate slowly began to lift up, making a huge rumbling sound.

"C'mon, let's go." Scourge sped off into the base, Sonic taking Rouge's hand and speeding after him.

Pretty soon, they were speeding past cells, most of them filled with sick or dying mobians.

"Good lord..." Rouge whispered.

"She is definitely going to pay for this…" Sonic mumbled.

"Is it me, or is this just to easy?" Scourge asked. It was then that they ran into a pitch-black hall.

"Who turned out the lights?" Sonic asked. As if on cue, the lights turned back on, revealing...

"Shayla." Scourge muttered.

"Well, well. Look who we have here. The two annoying rats." Shayla smirked. "In case you're wondering how I'm still alive, I developed a formula for keeping one's youth. Quite hard to make, it was. You don't have any idea how many subjects died during testing..."

Sonic started to growl.

"You know, I'd know you'd eventually come. When G.U.N reported that Project: Shadow had escaped, it was only a matter of time before you came for me."

"Get to the point." Rouge muttered. Shayla eyed her for a moment.

"So, brought your Girlfriend, have we, Sonic? Good. One more test subject for me!" She laughed, and the trio immediately found themselves surrounded by mobians.

"They're completely under my control. They do anything that I want them to..." As if on cue, the army started marching.

"Ah, Dammit..." Scourge muttered.

"We can't harm them, they're innocent mobians!" Sonic said.

"Uh, I don't really think we have much of a choice..." Rouge indicated.

"And if it's them or us, then I say us." Scourge added.

"...good point...whoa!" Sonic dodged a punch. The trio leapt into action, quickly taking out mobian after mobian, but they just kept on coming...

"It's like a never ending army!" Scourge exclaimed, kicking another one off him.

"Don't state the obvious!" Sonic yelled back, taking four on at once.

Unfortunately, Rouge didn't notice one until it was too late...

"Yah!" One of them grabbed Rouge from behind and then several more leapt on.

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF MY GIRLFREIND!" Sonic roared. Both Rouge and Shayla froze, staring at the blue hedgehog. In less than a second, Sonic had spin-dashed through the claw holding Rouge, freeing her.

One by one, the remaining claws were sliced off by the spinning blue blur.

"You...will...never...hurt...my...family...or...anyone...else...ever...again!" he yelled. Pretty soon, all that was left of the machine was the cockpit. Sonic walked up to it, lifting his hand as he did so.

"Good bye, Shayla." He said to the villainous scientist. "Chaos...Spear!" There was a flash of orange light, and the cockpit was sent crashing through what was left of the ceiling and into the sky, with Shayla still inside it. If you listened you could just hear her going: "Aiiieeeeeee!"

Rouge gently floated to the ground, landing in her saviour's arms. This time, Sonic didn't even turn red. He just smiled. A large grin spread across Scourge's face.

"...What?" Sonic asked. Scourge clapped him on the back.

"I think you know." He simply told his brother.

Later...

After a few quick calls, the trio were overseeing the evacuation of the survivors.

"All's well, it ends well, right?" Rouge asked. Sonic nodded.

"I guess so."

But, as soon as he said this, several helicopters bearing a familiar looking logo were landing not too far away.

"G.U.N!" Scourge exclaimed.

Soldiers started pouring out of the helicopters and quickly surrounded the trio.

"Project Sonic, Project Scourge and Rouge the Bat, you are under arrest!"

"WHAT?" Sonic yelled.

The shoulders moved apart, and the G.U.N commander stepped forward.

"Because, project, you and your 'brother' are still dangerous, escaped government projects, and 'little miss' here have been assisting you, that's why." He turned his attention towards the many soldiers. "Take them away." He ordered. The soldiers were about to comply, before another helicopter touched down.

"That's the president's personal helicopter!" Rouge exclaimed. The commander instantly froze. The door opened, and the president himself slowly stepped out.

"That's quite enough, John." The president said to the commander.

"But sir...they are escaped projects..."

"They have given more to this planet than should be possible. They are to be left alone. Same goes for Shadow." The president stated plainly.

The commander looked aghast. But nevertheless, he turned back to his troupes and told them to retreat. They obeyed, filing back into the helicopters, which then took off, leaving the troupes, police and ambulance crew that had already been there confused at what had just occurred.

The president turned towards the three heroes.

"I apologize for what you just had to see." He said to them. "But John still sees you as property of G.U.N. He just won't see anything differently, now." And with that, The President walked back to his helicopter, which took off shortly after he boarded.

"Well, now it ends well, right?" Scourge asked, looking at the speck in the sky that was the president's helicopter.

"Almost." Sonic replied, putting his arm around Rouge.

Remembering what the hedgehog had said earlier, Rouge grinned and looked up into Sonic's eyes, as he did to hers, before lowering his lips to kiss her with a surprising softness, which the bat returned happily. He wrapped his arms around her and drew her closer, both of them in a state of bliss. Sonic thought he saw some cameras flash, but he didn't care.

Back at the house, Tails was watching the news, Shadow on his lap.

"Ew! Daddy and Miss Rouge are kissing!"

"Rouge?" Sonic asked.

"Yes?"

"I love you."

"Same here, honey."

Sonic grinned, then lent in for another kiss.

Scourge patted him on the back.

"Well, well, well. Little Sonic's all grown up!" He teased.

"Scourge….."


	12. Chaos Control

Alarms that could be heard from miles away were sounding. The noise was enough to burst someone's ear drums, but that wasn't going to stop the two blurs, coloured blue and green respectively, from bashing their way into the base of maniac villainous scientist, Doctor Ivo 'Eggman' Robotnik (although commonly called 'Fatman', 'Robuttnik', etc). The blue blur was 19/64 (depending if you count years spent being cryogenically frozen)-year-old world renowned hero, Sonic the Hedgehog. The green one was his cloned twin brother, Scourge. Sonic's usually calm emerald eyes were currently ablaze with fury. The reason? He had simply dropped off his seven year old son, Shadow at his friends Cream and Vanilla's house, so he could go on a date with his girlfriend, Rouge. Not even 2 hours later, he'd got a call from them saying that Eggman had turned up and captured him, most likely to be used in one of his vile experiments. Sonic didn't want to even think about what could be happening to his son, right now.

The two hedgehogs had already easily passed the sound barrier, already. Sonic was still pushing himself forward, continuing to speed up. Scourge desperately tried to keep up with his brother, a look of worry in his eyes.

Numerous robots, that looked like giant, metal silver spheres on caterpillar tracks moved forwards towards the speeding pair. Turrets emerged from the tops, and they started rapidly firing laser bullets. However, this proved ineffective as they were easily dodged by the speeding pair, who ducked, jumped and weaved their way around them, before smashing the robots to pieces. Missiles were fired from the base, but these likewise proved useless, as their targets were just moving too fast, and they instead slammed into the ground behind the two hedgehogs, causing a series of small explosions. They two jumped upon the last of these robots, and used it as a spring, leaping over the first gate.

They landed on the other side, only to be met by a pair of transformers look-a-like robots.

"I don't have time for this!" Sonic yelled, smashing through the leg of one of the robots, before speeding off again.

"Wait for me, bro!" Scourge yelled, destroying the robot's head, before speeding off after his blue-quilled brother.

Sonic however, didn't listen to him and found himself being propelled by a spring trap, and sent flying through the air. He opened his eyes and saw just how far up he was from the ground. He groaned in annoyance, and took out a brightly coloured emerald from his quills. However Chaos Control needed time to work and that was time he just didn't have.

"Aw shi-" Scourge muttered to himself, seeing that his brother was in trouble.

Sonic was falling faster and faster towards the ground. Could this finally be the hero's demise? Evidently not, as the cerulean hero felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around him. Sonic opened his eyes again, not even remembering closing them in the first place. Scourge had caught him, bridal style. After noticing the rather...awkward position they were in, both of their faces turned bright red with embarrassment and Scourge promptly dropped him, causing Sonic to fall on his butt. But he wasn't sitting there long, as the two of them quickly jumped backwards, another missile slamming into the ground they had only just vacated.

Inside the giant base, the doctor himself was watching the events unfold on a large computer screen. Too his left, his royal robot workers, small and podgy Silvery-Grey Becoe and tall and thin Yellowy-Golden Decoe were frantically typing complicated coding into computer terminals. Behind the Robotnik himself, a small, seven-year-old black furred hedgehog with red highlights in his quills was trapped in a containment pod, seeing everything that was going on in the battle, due to being able to see the screen Robotnik was looking at.

"Daddy!" Shadow yelled, upon seeing his father getting blown through the air.

"Oh shut up, you stupid black rat!" Robotnik yelled, kicking the small hedgehog's cage, causing him to squeal in fright.

Back outside, a 4-seater airplane with 4 wings poking out diagonally was flying through the air, with a yellow-orange twin-tailed fox with a patch of white fur on his chest sitting in the pilot seat, and a pink-quilled female hedgehog wearing a bright red dress with a white rim and pink headband was sitting behind him.

"Are you sure they'll be ok, Tails?" Amy asked, worried about her former love interest and his green brother, who just happened to be her current boyfriend.

"Don't worry Amy, I'm sure they'll be ok!" Tails told her confidently. But as soon as he said this, the left hand side of the craft was peppered by bullets, taking out one of the X-Tornado's wings with it.

"Ah!" Amy yelled, then looked over the side of the craft, to see smoke pouring out from the bullet holes. "It's smoking! What should we do, Tails?" She asked, looking back at the pilot.

"It'll be Ok, Amy!" Tails yelled, but they were losing altitude, and fast. "Hold on!" Tails yelled, as the plane landed roughly, but started skidding along the field, right in the direction of a huge boulder!

"A rock!" Amy yelled, as though she had never seen a rock before. "Avoid it!" She screamed, seemingly thinking that Tails was just going to let them plough right into it.

"It's no use!" Tails shouted back. Amy closed her eyes, bracing herself for impact. But upon hearing a loud smash and feeling the plane skidding to a stop, she opened again. They didn't have to look far to see what had destroyed the rock. "Knuckles!" Tails yelled, seeing the red echidna.

"Hmph." Knuckles turned around, looking in the direction of the base.

"Knuckles..." Tails whispered.

"What an attitude!" Amy complained. Knuckles didn't appear to harm her. He instead continued to observe the distant fight.

"Hey hey...this is too much." He said.

Meanwhile, the computers in the base instantly closed down, and the sounds of bullets and missiles being fired ceased immediately. "W-What's going on?" The good doctor yelled at his servants.

"Betcha those two bozos messed up again!" A small, black, bat-like robot with red shoes and a small jetpack attached to his back and carrying a small, yellow bag called out.

"Oh, shut up!" Robotnik yelled at Bokkun, before turning his attention back to Becoe and Decoe.

"It appears are systems have been hacked, sir." Decoe replied.

"What? You nincompoops! How is that even possible?" The doctor yelled, very frustrated.

"Uh-Oh, Doctor's angry!" Bokkun called.

"SHUT UP!" the egg-shaped doctor screamed at his most annoying creation.

A few floors below them, a white bat detached a device from another terminal and spoke into her communicator. The plan was simple: Sonic, Scourge, Tails and Amy would distract the doctor long enough for Rouge to sneak in, which was no problem for the former spy. There, she would hack her way into the security system, enabling the others to get to the core of the base.

"Guys, I've disabled all the security systems and all robots positioned outside of the base. Getting in should be no problem." A few moments passed, before she heard her boyfriend answer.

"Roger that. Thanks, Rouge."

"No problem." At those words, the bat started to beat her huge wings, flying up towards the higher parts of the base.

Back in the core of the base...

"Curse that bat! Why is that bastard Sonic and his friends always getting in my way?"

"Well, you just captured his son, for one." Becoe pointed out. Robotnik thought for a moment.

"True, but..." he gestured towards the huge machine in the center of the room, pulling out the red chaos emerald as he did. "...when I drain Shadow's chaos energy, combine it with the power of this Chaos Emerald, my Mecha will become MUCH more powerful! Ohohohoho! What's more, since this machine isn't connected to the mainframe, it can't be hacked from anywhere else!"

He inserted the Emerald into a slot in the machine, then walked over to Shadow's containment pod and put his hand on a lever. The black hedgehog whimpered and scooted away from him.

"Farewell, Shadow the hedgehog!" he was about to pull the lever, a spinning blue sphere smashed its way through the opposite wall, slicing through the control panel, freeing Shadow. Another sphere, a green one, landed next to the blue one. Both stopped spinning, revealing the angry hedgehog brothers.

"Daddy!" Shadow called out, seeing Sonic.

"That was fast..." Robotnik muttered. "HOWEVER..." Several auto guns emerged from the ceiling, and started firing rapidly. Quick as a flash, Sonic had scooped up Shadow and him and Scourge began darting around the room, avoiding the heavy fire. Up above, Rouge emerged from an air vent, but quickly dived back inside in order to avoid getting shot.

Unfortunately, the autogun's aiming was more than a little off, as several bullets penetrated the machine's armour, causing it to crackle with energy.

"It's broken!" Robotnik yelled.

"Uh-Oh..." Becoe said.

A bright light emerged from the now-broken machine, before engulfing them all.

Some way away, Amy, Tails and Knuckles were witnessing the event.

"Wait...is that...?" Amy asked.

"Chaos Control." Knuckles answered, folding his arms, Tails nodding in agreement, before they were all also engulfed by the light.

Hours later...

Sonic attempted to open his eyes...he felt...strange... his eyes began to open...WATER HE WAS IN WATER. The blue hedgehog started to panic, arms waving everywhere.

When he felt a pair of arms drag him from the water, he was so incredibly relieved...

The blue hedgehog fully opened his eyes, getting a good look at his rescuer...

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING, SONIC?" The blue hedgehog almost got blown back into the swimming pool by Scourge's outburst.

It only took Sonic a few seconds to realize something.

Shadow. He wasn't anywhere to be seen. (Or the others).


	13. Author's note: Surprise!

This fic is currently on hiatus...

...

...

...

...

....but before you all kill me, this is why: I am instead going to write a PREQUEL to Truth, Lies and Secret Family, which'll show the events of what happened all those years ago......

...I think some fans have been calling for a prequel. Yes, Cassy the Hedgehog, I'm looking at you, here.....and Twilight the Gecko.....would you mind if I borrowed Shayla again? Please? Pretty Please? *puppy dog eyes* Yes, I'll let you beta-read each chapter using Shayla first.....


End file.
